religious experience Flashcards
1
Q
what are the three types of visions
A
- corporeal
- imaginative
- intellectual
2
Q
what are corporeal visions
A
- these are empirical in that they are supernatural experiences that are mediated through the physical senses
- the visionary sees the figure/object in the same way someone would see a chair
3
Q
what is an example of a corporeal vision
A
- the 18 visions of mary that bernadette of lourdes experienced
- she saw a small young lady who identified herself as the immaculate conception
4
Q
what are imaginative visions
A
- these are visions which are mediated through the minds eye, not through physical sight
- they often take the forms of dreams
5
Q
what is an example of an imaginative vision
A
- Joseph’s dream in which he was told mary was pregnant through the power of the holy spirit and that he was to marry her
6
Q
what are intellectual visions
A
- in this type of vision there is no image, but the subject of the experience claims to see things as they really are
- these are mystical visions. they are hard to understand as they defy description. they enlighten the soul
7
Q
example of an intellectual vision
A
- teresa of avila was a mystic who had many such visions
8
Q
what are numinous experiences
A
- experiences of the wholly other, unrelated to spatiotemporal experiences
9
Q
what does otto believe about numinous experiences
A
- it is an experience that is the basis of all genuine religion
- it is a non rational and unique form of experience, totally outside our everyday experience
- it is a sense of the wholly other
- the emphasis is on gods transcendence
10
Q
what is the idea of the holy
A
- the title of Otto’s book on the nature of religious experience
- the word holy means ‘other than’ , ‘seperate from’
- it is an attempt to describe the sense some people have of a reality totally outside and beyond their experience of themselves and the world
- Isaiah’s experience at his call gave rise to his reference to god throughout his prophetic ministry as the holy one of israel
11
Q
what is mysterium tremendum et fascinans
A
- latin term for a fearful and attractive mystery
- it expresses the complex nature of numinous experiences
12
Q
what does mysterium mean
A
- refers to something far removed from humanity that can be experienced but not understood
- elicits the response of awe and wonder
13
Q
what does tremendum mean
A
- refers to the fearsome experience of gods overwhelming majesty and energy
- creates a sense of human nothingness and sinfulness, and consequently absolute dependence on god
14
Q
what does fascinans mean
A
- the compulsive and attractive nature of the experience creates the desire for a relationship with this Being, despite its fearful nature
- it creates an awareness of the need for salvation
- isaiah experienced gods forgiveness and mercy
15
Q
what does william james believe about religion and religious experiences
A
- he was sympathetic to religion, though he was not a member of any organised religion
- he applied the insights of science, and particularly psychology
- religious experience is primary
- organised religion arose out of people comparing their religious experiences
- the true purpose of humanity is union with the higher universe that gives this world its significance
16
Q
what are william james’ four criteria for assessing the genuine nature of a mystical experience
A
- ineffability
- noetic quality
- transiency
- passivity
17
Q
what does ineffability mean in terms of religious experience
A
- a private experience that makes sense only to other mystics
- it cannot be described in words so negative language may be used
18
Q
what is noetic quality
A
- the encounter gives a genuine insight into truths
- they consist of non-rational and intuitive rather than intellectual knowledge
19
Q
what does transiency mean for religious experience
A
- the experience is usually short, almost always no more that 1-2 hours
- with time, it becomes more difficult to reproduce in the memory, but its continuing significance is seen in any further experiences
- it has a life transforming effect on the individual’s view of life
20
Q
what does passivity mean for religious experience
A
- the experience controls the mystic, whose will is unable to direct what happens
- this may result in unusual activity e.g teresa of avila is said to have levitated
21
Q
what does walter stace believe about religious experience
A
- like james, stace saw little point in attempting rational proofs of gods existence because god is either a mystery or nothing at all
- he saw the goal of all religious experience as union with god
- mysticism is nothing to do with the occult or parapsychology, visions or auditory experiences
22
Q
what are the two types of mystical experience
A
- introvertive
- extrovertive
23
Q
what are the seven features of introvertive mystical experiences
A
- pure consciousness
- non spatial and non temporal
- sense of reality
- sense of absolute peace
- sense of the holy
- experience of paradox
- an ineffable experience
24
Q
what are the seven features of extrovertive mystical experiences
A
- all things are One
- a sense of the One as inner subjectivity or life in all things
- sense of reality
- sense of absolute peace
- sense of the holy
- experience of the paradox
- an ineffable experience
25
Q
what are introvertive mystical experiences
A
- the ultimate mystical experience
- sense experience is totally suppressed
- there is no awareness of the world
- there is no intellectual function
- ordinary human consciousness is replaced with mystical consciousness in which the ‘I’ is absent
26
Q
what are extrovertive mystical experiences
A
- a halfway house to the introvertive experience
- normal objects are seen with the physical senses, but they are transfigured so that the non sensuous unity of all things shines through them
27
Q
arguments why religious experiences cant be verified
A
- we only have the word of the experient that the experience took place
- the experiences are highly subjective and personal, so are not objectively real. they are simply interpretation
- the inability to describe mystical experiences suggests that they are not real. james claimed there was a fine line between mysticism and insanity
28
Q
arguments why religious experiences can be verified
A
- people who have had religious experiences are likely to claim that they were objectively real
- ineffability is a key characteristic of mystical experiences in all religions. it is difficult to investigate them, but that does not mean they are false
29
Q
psychological arguments why religious experiences cannot be verified
A
- freud claimed visions were just illusions created by subconscious fears and desires. they were at the best signs of immaturity and at the worst signs of mental illness
- the experiences can be explained psychologically or medically
- neuroscience shows that religious experiences can be simulated through devices like the god helmet
30
Q
psychological arguments why religious experiences can be verified
A
- god could work through peoples conditions
- jung challenged freud, arguing that the visions of sane people were not necessarily delusions. in his view they often had beneficial results for the experient
31
Q
what are swinburnes principles of credulity and testimony
A
- credulity – in the absence of special considerations, how things seem to a person is how they really are. this is essentially about the believability of the individuals own personal and private experience
- testimony – in the absence of special considerations, we should believe what people tell us. this is essentially about the reliability of what others claim about their personal experiences
32
Q
what are swinburnes special considerations
A
- if the person claiming the experience has been known to tell lies in the past
- if the claim seems beyond the realms of possibility
- it is very difficult to show that god was present
- there are other ways of accounting for the experience
33
Q
what are the rejections of swinburnes special considerations
A
- having lied in the past does not necessarily mean the person is lying
- just because one claim is false does not mean all other claims are false
- if god is everywhere, the burden of proof is with the doubter, not the experient
- as god underpins all processes, there is no reason why he should not work through the intense electrical activity of the brain
34
Q
what are arguments against swinburnes approach
A
- it is a huge leap to go from saying that normal observable sense experiences are reliable to claiming the same for religious experiences, which are metaphysical
- others can confirm claims about ordinary sense experiences, whereas religious experiences are essentially private and incapable of scientific investigation
- even if the experient is convinced that it was an experience of god, that does not mean that god is in fact the right explanation
35
Q
what are arguments supporting swinburnes argument
A
- as james pointed out, transformation in lifestyle is a powerful argument for the genuineness of religious experience
- other people’s claims to such experiences combined with transformed lives give further support
36
Q
arguments why religious experiences have value for religious faith
A
- some religious experiences have caused the founding of religions
- religious experiences are often inspirational leading others to faith in and about god
